I asked Ramaraju if he wanted to join and he was game so I picked him up and we managed to land up at Chowmahalla palace at 10 am. Since my last visit I realised there were a few changes - they had opened up another gate ahead to the left which opened up more parking space and a proper entry and exit system. Ticket cost 150 bucks and for a mobile camera 50 bucks. As usual the chap at the counter had no change and he looked at me to find an online solution for that which I found in Rammaraju.
Mukthyar was there and we were soon joined by Anirudh who always amazes me with his knowledge of Hyderabad cricket and cricketers - it's surreal sometimes and I feel he knows more than many cricketers themselves. During our discussions he told me he watched the TG20 finals, watched both Ranji games recently and spoke of the people he met etc. He's one of the few people in Hyderabad one can hold a sensible conversation with on cricket in Hyderabad. He could write a book on Hyderabad cricket.
We bought our tickets and were soon joined by Ashik, Pavan and his father, and later on by Nissar, a psychiatrist, his friend Arjun.
Mukthyar gave a general idea of how the Asaf Jahi dynasty came to be. The coming to India of Mohamad Abid who later came to be known as Qilich Khan, a general who fought for the Mughals and died in the siege of Golconda under Aurangzeb in 1687. Qilich Khan's grandson it was, Qamaruddin Khan, who became the first Nizam ul Mulk and ruled mostly from Aurangabad.
The first Nizam established the Asaf Jaf dynasty in 1724, defeating the Mughal Governor Mubariz Khan, but did not secede from the Mughals, choosing instead to operate under them with full independence. The official firmans would come from Delhi though.
After he passed away three rulers ruled - Nasir Jung, Muzaffar Jung and Salabath Jung. None of the above got official sanction from Delhi and hence they do not show up in the legitimate list of Nizams. Why they are important to this tour is because Salabath Jung who ruled for 12 years (1751-62), started construction of the Chowmalla palace around 1750. The first phase was completed during the time of the 5th Nizam Afzal ud Daula during the 1757-69 period. Other buildings kept getting added on.
Mukthyar said that the palace grounds extended from the Jillu Khana gate on Lad Bazaar to where it is now. Once inside we passed through servant quarters or offices, past the store which had some quaint stuff, and landed up at the Khilwat Mubarak. This building was built by the seventh Nizam circa 1912 onwards .
Before this building is a beautiful water body, gardens. To the right of the Khilwat building is a clock tower and a majestic gate that leads into the road adjacent.
Inside the Khilwat building we step into the Diwan-e-Aam which is where the Nizams would meet the ordinary people, a huge marble hall with a marble throne, 19 massive Belgian chandeliers. To the right and left are huge rooms that have been converted into museums with brief bios of the Nizams seven Nizams - Nizam ul Mulk, Nizam Ali Khan, Sikandar Jah, Nadir ud Daula, Afzal ud Daula, Mahboob Ali Khan add Osman Ali Khan. Then we step into a photo gallery, walk behind the hall, step into another show area and into a beautiful garden behind.
A lovely gate leads us into the area where the four Mahals are - Tahniat Mahal, Afzal Mahal, Mahtab Mahal and Aftab Mahal. Couple of them are open and a couple are off bounds.
Behind these Mahals is an area where the many cars of the Nizam are on display. It's an interesting area. By this time a couple of calls came in which I had to take and there went the rest of my walk.
Walking through Chowmahalla Palace takes up half a day for sure. We headed out
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